High Profile: Ray Vernall

Vernall Has Schools Singing On Right Key

Leads Poquoson To Top Of Va. Class

May 31, 1993|By BRYAN SMITH Daily Press

POQUOSON — Upholstered in a slate-gray suit, a patterned though modest tie and white dress shirt, Raymond Vernall looks every bit the placid and unflappable school chief folks here will tell you he is.

He's tilted back in his chair slightly, his fingertips touching. His words flow in well-formed, if not quite elegant, phrases. The voice is quiet, calming.

It's Monday and a rough week looms. But Vernall, Poquoson's school superintendent for the past 15 years, is the picture of equanimity.

Then, with a single unrehearsed gesture, he momentarily betrays the self-portrait of calm and peace.

As the conversation switches to his latest battle for more school funding, he brings a palm to the forehead and drags it down across a tired face.

For more than a decade, Vernall says, he has begged, fought and scraped for more money for his school system, which has one of the lowest per-pupil spending rates in the state. Virtually each year, he's come away disappointed. This year, he says, was one of the worst. The City Council, saying it simply didn't have the money, slashed his spending request by a quarter of a million dollars. Now, once again, he has to find the money, somewhere, somehow.

Later, he admits, he's not sure how many more budget battles he has in him. At the end of his next four-year term, which begins in July, he says he'll seriously consider retiring.

It's been a long run for Vernall, one of the longest in the state. A run during which he's seen his school system consistently rank among Virginia's best. But even the most dedicated soldier can grow battle-weary.

``We'll see what happens when that rolls around,'' says the silver-haired Vernall, 56, seated at a table in his small second-floor office. ``That would put me at an age when it would certainly be viable. It would be a point to take very serious stock.''

Those who have taken stock of Vernall say it would be a loss of a trusted leader from one of the city's most important jobs.

``I don't know of any other superintendent who's had his longevity,'' says School Board member Linda Hunt, who has worked with Vernall in different capacities for 20 years. ``He treats people with respect and has a kind ear for everyone, yet he has high expectations for students.''

It's a job, depending on who you talk to, that's one of the cushiest or one of the most thankless.

There's no doubt that Vernall has presided over - and helped in some part to create - one of the best-performing school systems in the state. Over and over, Poquoson schools have ranked near the top in standardized test scores, including SAT and IOWA tests of basic skills.

On the Peninsula, Poquoson perennially battles York for the mantle of top area school district, usually running neck and neck at the top of nearly every academic category.

The one-traffic-light town - home to engineers, military officers and watermen - continues to crank out college scholarship winners.

On the surface, such performance seems astonishing, considering Poquoson's size, what it spends per pupil - at $3,942, among the lowest in the state - and its admitted deficiencies in technology and supplies for its schools.

But for all the kudos and honors, just about everyone and everything other than Vernall has gotten the credit. Parent involvement, motivated children, high household incomes (Poquoson ranks 10th in the state and 71st nationally in family income) and good teachers are the factors most often cited.

But area school advocates say people too often overlook one of the most important ingredients: Vernall.

``You can have a lot of good things happening,'' says Vernon A. Krueger, a former School Board member. ``But if you don't have good leadership, you're not going to be successful.''

Part of that success comes from Vernall's ability to make do, supporters say.

In terms of getting the most out of relatively tiny budgets, Vernall's ``almost a magician,'' says Hunt. ``I've been embarrassed at Poquoson's per pupil expenditures, and amazed at how well the system has performed.''

``I think he's done the best he could, considering the situation,'' adds Mary Kay Weston, principal of the city's primary school and a 16-year colleague of Vernall's.

Vernall took over a rather different situation when he was named head of Poquoson's schools in 1977.

An assistant superintendent in Hampton schools at the time, he inherited a system that suffered from overcrowded and deteriorating schools, one that offered few special-education classes and had virtually no programs for talented and gifted students.

Back then, a crumbling roof covered the middle school. Teachers stuck buckets and barrels under badly leaking ceilings in the elementary school. A salvaged ship boiler provided heat for some students.

The Cumberland, Md., native accepted the challenge with relish, though it was a long way from his boyhood dreams.